Rain in Europe has brought relief to parched wheat belts but more moisture is needed to prevent this summer's harvest shrinking further compared with last year's bumper crop, analysts said. A dry spring has increased growing difficulties for wheat crops in parts of Europe after a soggy autumn and winter that cut sowing and prevented crops establishing strong roots, reports Reuters. "We're heading towards one of the smallest wheat crops of the last decade in Europe," Sebastien Poncelet of consultancy Agritel said.
Guinness has announced a partnership with digital platform anyExcuse to provide the Irish Hospitality Industry with free usage of table booking, table service and click & collect services for six months. Through this partnership, all licensed trade outlets across the Island of Ireland, including Diageo and non-Diageo customers, can avail of these services free of charge for six months, valued at €1,200 / £1,080 per business. These digital services will help outlets reopen safely, efficiently and more profitably without any contractual or financial commitment to continue the service after six months. Table booking can facilitate capacity management as well as predicting staffing needs. There is also a booking deposit option to help safeguard participating outlets against no-shows. Digital table service will enable customers to view a digital menu, place their order and pay contactlessly via their own device.
The Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) and the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) have welcomed the government's announcement that pubs can reopen from 20 July, three weeks earlier than originally planned, and that pubs that serve food can reopen at the same time as the rest of the hospitality sector on 29 June. VFI chief executive Padraig Cribben stated: "This is a welcome shot in the arm for publicans who will have been closed for more than four months by the time they reopen on 20 July. Pubs were the first sector to close on 15th March, a decision our members supported for the good of public health.
German retailer Edeka has added new vegan products to its private-label Asian food brand, Mìng Chú. The range offers authentic taste and flavour of far eastern cuisines from China, Indonesia and Korea. The products are made with natural ingredients and do not contain artificial flavours and preservatives, reports esmmagazine.com The new products include sweet chilli sauce, chilli seasoning paste and noodles. The Mìng Chú sweet chilli sauce is a recipe from Thailand and offers a fruity-sweet, slightly acidic and spicy taste.
Sberbank is in talks to buy a large stake in online retailer Ozon, four sources close to the matter said, as Russia's biggest bank prepares to sever its ties with Yandex. The proposed Ozon deal is part of Sberbank boss German Gref's plan to create a one-stop technology platform offering a wide range of financial and other services, reports Reuters. Sberbank is ending two online joint ventures with Yandex , having long failed to agree on strategy with the Russian online giant, and plans instead to join telecoms-to-medicine firm Sistema and private equity group Baring Vostok as Ozon stakeholders.
The Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) has called on the government to speed up the reopening of the tourism and hospitality sector by allowing all hospitality and tourism businesses to reopen on 29 June. RAI CEO Adrian Cummins stated that all hospitality and tourism businesses should be allowed to reopen on June 29 provided that they can adhere to public health advice. The RAI said that this will have a major impact on the Irish economy by allowing 200,000 employees to return to work, and that it will avoid a stampede to the courts for restaurant certificate applications by certain businesses trying to move phases and avoid legal costs for struggling businesses.
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